John’s response to a priest’s letter:
Dear Father,
Thanks for your encouraging letter. In our apostolate, we have few consolations. Few dioceses are doing anything practical to teach Humanae Vitae and provide the practical help of NFP. We aren’t aware of any that require our kind of NFP course that includes ecological breastfeeding and the simple covenant theology. While the voting [Nov. 2012] may be better than four years ago, there is little to indicate that the percentage of Catholics who believe and accept Humanae Vitae has risen. Only about one or two percent of church-going fertile-age Catholics practice some form of systematic NFP. Even accounting for errors in the surveys, it seems unquestionable that at least 90% of church-going fertile-age Catholics are using unnatural forms of birth control. We continue to plug along, but the dark night continues.
A blessed Christmastide to you and your confreres.
John F. Kippley
December 26, 2012